50 years ago in Expo history: The new Garbage Goat was so popular that some were rumored to be feeding it trash from their homes

Expo ’74’s famous Garbage Goat had developed major gastrointestinal complications and had to undergo surgery.

The problem? The metal-sculpture goat was simply too popular.

“One child was found bringing garbage from a nearby can,” the Chronicle reported. “Another was rumored to have hoarded trash at home and brought it with him to the fair.”

The result was a Garbage Goat that was seriously overstuffed. To fix the goat, its “legs had to be cut loose to get him turned over for internal enlargement.”

Children were now happy with the goat’s newly expanded capacity, and so, presumably, was the goat.

“The field of iron-goat medicine is advancing by leaps and bounds these days,” the Chronicle wrote.

From 100 years ago: Robert Unangst reported on Aug. 7 that his wife and 13-month-old daughter, Dorothy, had disappeared.

Unangst finally found them on Sept. 9, living in a “small, poorly ventilated room” in a downtown boarding house.

He brought them home, but on Sept. 10, they disappeared again.

Juvenile authorities were now making a “thorough search of the city” in an attempt to find the mother and child.

“All I want is to get my little girl back so that I know she is getting the right care,” Unangst said.

He declared he had “no trouble of any kind” with his wife. He said his wife had been ill lately.

Also on this day

(From onthisday.com)

2001: In an address to a joint session of Congress and the American people, President George W. Bush declares a “war on terror.”